Evaluation of the effect of playing video games on Child behavior during dental treatment

Introduction: One of the most difficult issues in paediatric dentistry is effectivelymanaging children, ensuring that our treatment is delivered in a calm and comfortableatmosphere, while reducing any painful causes that may increase nervousness and fear.Aim: To compare the effects of video game playing and the Tell-Show-Do technique onanxiety and behavior in children during their first dental visit, using physiological (heartrate, oxygen saturation) and behavioral (VAS, Venham’s scale) assessments. Materials& Methods:Arandomized clinical trial was conducted on sixty children aged 6-8 years,who required vital pulpotomies for their primary molars. The children were randomizedto two groups according to behavior management technique, where Group-I, the controlgroup, comprised of 30 children who were received the tell show-do (TSD) approachand Group-II, referred to as the examined group, comprised of 30 children who wereprovided with hand-held Video Games (VGs). Results: There was no statisticallysignificant difference regarding the mean heart rate and oxygen saturation readingsamong different time points in both groups. There were no significant differences inVisualAnalogue Pain Rating Scale (VAS) between TSD and VGs distraction techniquesafter local anaesthesia administration, however, at end of procedure VGs group hadstatistically lower child pain scores compared with TSD group. Regarding Venham’sclinical anxiety and behavioral rating scale (VCARS), results showed that VGs grouphad statistically very highly significant lower child anxiety levels than TSD group.Conclusion: The use of video games distraction significantly reduces pain and anxietyand has shown to be more effective compared with TSD distraction for redirectinga patient’s attention away from pain, besides being more convenient because of itsincreased practicality and widespread availability. Considering our results, video gamescould be incorporated as an adjunct in routine dental practice during administration oflocal anesthesia.